Drake’s Take: New Releases 01.12.10

New year, new Drake! I know there are a lot of haters out there, but for the record, I’m in the first camp (“those who enjoy it”) when it comes to Vampire Weekend. I’m pretty sure about this because someone asked me to stop dancing this morning while I was listening to “Horchata” on my iPod. -ed

I get the impression that there’s kind of two camps for Vampire Weekend fans… those who enjoy their music, and those who secretly enjoy it but claim not to like it because they take offense to the band’s Ivy League education or the fact that they (mis)appropriate African music. To that I say phooey. If you didn’t like Vampire Weekend (or, rather, secretly liked it but show public disdain for the aforementioned reasons), Contra probably won’t change your mind, as they’re still employing African Soweto style (and have yet to renounce their Columbia University background). But for existing fans, there’s the perfect amount of added weirdness that’s artful and yet palatable. Take the opener, “Horchaata,” which has a wordless and tribal chorus that’s akin to something Animal Collective would do. It’s the perfect opener, announcing both that they’re still VW, yet willing to take some risks. Meanwhile, the final two songs are all about risk… that and The Clash. “Diplomat’s Son,” I assume, refers to Joe Strummer (who was the son of a diplomat) and it samples M.I.A., making a meta-reference thanks to the Clash-sampled “Paper Airplanes.” And the last song, “I Think Ur a Contra,” bubbles and floats us to the finish line, sounding nothing at all like anything on their debut. The journey there is worth the ticket.

Ok, here’s the deal as I understand it. Owen Pallett is giving up the name Final Fantasy after this release — he wanted a clean break, but his decision came too late and it was cost prohibitive to do it. However, it takes little time to make the change digitally, so if you’re downloading, it’s Owen Pallett. Physical release = Final Fantasy. MP3 = Owen Pallett. Got it?